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Caedmon is proud to release this archival full-cast recording of Tennessee Williams'sA Streetcar Named Desireon cd for the first time!

Blanche DuBois arrives at her sister Stella's New Orleans apartment seeking refuge from a troubled past-but her ethereal spirit irks Stella's husband, the loutish Stanley Kowalski. Crudely, relentlessly, he unmasks the lies and delusions that sustain Blanche, until her frail hold on reality is shockingly severed.

This atmospheric recording of Tennessee Williams's powerful classic stars Rosemary Harris and James Farentino as Blanche and Stanley-roles they performed to acclaim in a smash revival at New York's Lincoln Center.

Product Description

Review

“In Williams found images and rhythms that are still part of the way we think and feel and move.” — Jack Kroll (Newsweek)

“Lyrical and poetic and human and heartbreaking and memorable and funny.” — Francis Ford Coppola

“The introductions, by playwrights as illustrious as Williams himself, are the gem of these new editions.” — Ken Furtado (Echo Magazine)

“Blanche is the Everest of modern American drama, a peak of psychological complexity and emotional range.” — John Lahr (The New Yorker)
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.

About the Author

Tennessee Williams, born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi won Pulitzer Prizes for his dramas,A Streetcar Named DesireandCat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other plays includeThe Glass Menagerie,Summer and Smoke,The Rose Tattoo,Camino Real,Suddenly Last Summer,Sweet Bird of YouthandNight of the Iguana. He also wrote a number of one-act plays, short stories, poems and two novels,The Roman Spring of Mrs. StoneandMoishe and the Age of Reason. He died in 1983 at the age of 72.

Most helpful customer reviews

I read this play for school and I had heard of it before but I thought it was a novel, not a play. Before reading this play, the only plays I had read were Cyrano and quite a few by Shakespeare which are plays from before the 20th century I am pretty sure. Luckily for me A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE was written in the 20th century so I found it easy to understand and follow. The characters were well developed (though I am not surprised seeing as Vivian Leigh starred in the film version).

This play was also funny, especially with the character Stanley. Some lines in this play I will not easily forget and some parts I would even like to write down for future reference.

What I really liked about this play was that all or almost all of the scenes were in Stanley and Stella's house (of course they didn't just stay there, there was mention of places they had been off stage). I just found that to be comforting and easy to visualize and I really don't like change so this suited me just fine.

Because this play was so easy to visualize, I could picture it and hear the actors voices. I loved Mitch and Blanche together and all the characters had likable and not likable characteristics, making them realistic.

I read that Tennessee Williams also wrote THE GLASS MENAGERIE, I want to read that as well.

"A Streetcar named Desire" is one of Tennessee Williams' masterpieces,published in 1947.The play is about the Southern Belle Blanche duBois who comes to live withher sister Stella in New Orleans. There she is confronted with her sister'shusband Stanley who wants to destroy Blanche's life. The conflict betweenStanley and Blanche gets worse and it comes to a rape.In the following scenes Stella has to decide whether she believes in hersister or in Stanley.The play gets more and more exciting and your interest will b e caught bythe development of the plot.In his book Williams tries to assimilate his own life which was dominated byhis brutal father. Also the autobiographical aspect makes the play worthreading.Further I would recommend you to read the book because it contains numerousthemes which are still relavant today. So love, lonliness and cruelty play animportant role. Moreover easy and colloquial language is used.All in all the play "A Streetcar named Desire" is really recommendable.

It amazes me how few people young people have actually read through "A Streetcar Named Desire". Tennessee Williams is certainly one of America's trademark playwrites of the past century, along with Arthur Miller. His stories are timeless and his characters are unforgettable.The immortal character of Blanche DuBois is a classic icon, a woman who's lost not only her material wealth but her virtue. In her last attempt to hold onto some shred of happiness, she goes to stay with her sister, Stella, and Stella's working class husband, Stanley Kowalski. Blanche's fortune has been lost, but she attempts to maintain her dignity and stature as a debutant. Stanley however, is repulsed by the fallen woman, convinced she is not only snobby, but hiding Stella's share of the family fortune. What he discovers is that Blanche has created quite a reputation by having numerous affairs with random men in the surrounding communities. To spite her, he ruins her last chance at getting married and pushes her into the realm of insanity.A Streetcar Named Desire is a blunt look at the violence of lower class life and how it clashes with the upperclass. Everyone should read this American classic once, if not for the historical benefit, but for amazing dialogues that have been quoted over the years. At this point, pretty everyone knows the phrase, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers", but few realize its origin or the context in which it was spoken. I think its about time everyone knew.Happy Reading!

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a story of gender discrimination, insanity, and rape. When Blanch Dubois is forced to move in with her sister in New Orleans, she is in a very fragile state. Even so, she keeps an appearance of a strong woman by living in her own world. She fools most people into believing that there is nothing wrong with her. But the one person she is unable to hide the truth from is Stella's husband Stanley. Determined to reveal the true Blanch to the rest of the world Stanley searches her past. He finds out things that end the relationship she was having with his friend Mitch, and then finally drives her over the edge when he rapes her. But the story isn't just about the struggles of Blanch. The story is about the change from the old south to the new south. Blanch, representing the way things used to be, picked apart by Stanley, who is the perfect symbol of the changing times. She, like the old south, is unable to survive in the new south and eventually just fades away.

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a story of gender discrimination, insanity, and rape. When Blanch Dubois is forced to move in with her sister in New Orleans, she is in a very fragile state. Even so, she keeps an appearance of a strong woman by living in her own world. She fools most people into believing that there is nothing wrong with her. But the one person she is unable to hide the truth from is Stella's husband Stanley. Determined to reveal the true Blanch to the rest of the world Stanley searches her past. He finds out things that end the relationship she was having with his friend Mitch, and then finally drives her over the edge when he rapes her. But the story isn't just about the struggles of Blanch. The story is about the change from the old south to the new south. Blanch, representing the way things used to be, picked apart by Stanley, who is the perfect symbol of the changing times. She, like the old south, is unable to survive in the new south and eventually just fades away.